


Love and Preconceptions

by navaan



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Community: wintercompanion, Established Relationship, Fun, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Slash, Time Lord sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-28
Updated: 2010-03-28
Packaged: 2017-10-13 00:58:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/131050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor discovers that even 51st century boys are not without prejudice when it comes to reproduction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love and Preconceptions

**Author's Note:**

> Don't take this too seriously. I'm not introducing new canon here... Beta was the wonderful knm1234 . Written for the wintercompanion 2010 Doctor/Jack Fest.  
> Promt: Jack's 51st century prejudices. He's gotta have some

The Doctor lay on his side, watching Jack watching him. They were meeting like this a lot nowadays and the Doctor was really asking himself how long it would go on like this. With Jack there always seemed the possibility of forever, but he could never be sure of himself.

He had landed the Tardis in Bristol this time and Jack had already been waiting for him there. Smiling. It was a strange but comforting feeling that Jack would always be out there waiting for him to drop by. It was also frightening as hell.

Now they were lying in bed naked and snuggled up cosily. It was rare for him to feel the need to stay with Jack after they had sex, but today he was in the mood to be kind enough and not run away straight out of bed. Jack never complained, understanding the need for the Doctor to not stop for too long but the Time Lord knew all too well that his lover preferred to have him around for a little longer.

Said lover was tenderly stroking along his back. “You're calm today,” Jack remarked, as if he had followed the Doctor's thought process. “Sometimes I think you were born running. You must have given your mother a hard time until you were finally born.”

The Doctor smiled and corrected him out of habit: “I wasn't born. I was loomed.”

“Loomed?” Jack gave him an uneasy look. “What does that mean?” He untangled himself from the Doctor to sit up and lean against the headboard.

The Doctor sighed. He'd have preferred some more cuddling, although he would never go and say _that_ out loud. “Uhm. You know, normally Time Lords weren't born, they were created from genetic information through a system of looms.” The Doctor smiled at Jack's incredulous expression. It wasn't often that Jack reacted to anything with surprise. Normally he would have been reluctant to talk about Gallifrey, but this was too good a chance to pass by. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, amused.

“You were born from a machine?” Jack's voice held a little revulsion and the Doctor frowned at that. Was this a somehow sensitive topic for his Captain?

“Technically speaking, Time Lord children were born from machines, yes,” he explained patiently. He couldn't remember when he'd last had to explain about looms.

“But that's horrible!”, Jack cried out. “It's unnatural and...” he stopped for a short moment staring the Doctor right in the eye “...wrong.”

“Wrong? Huh? I've heard that one before.” The Doctor smiled indulgently. “Jack! I think we just discovered a 51st-century prejudice!” His smile grew wider. “Why do you think it's wrong?”

Jack stared at him, wondering at his good mood in the face of Jack's issues. “You weren't born from a body. In my time that was considered unnatural. It was believed to cause emotional trauma to...” He gaped at the Doctor, whose smile turned dangerous at the implication.

“Don't say it. There is a lot of trauma here, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with looming, you 51st-century know-it-all.”

“But touch is so important!” Jack exclaimed. “How could you not be unused to touch and company. Only species with serious issues used machines to reproduce. All those unemotional, asexual...” He sobered. “Is that why Time Lords are so aloof?”

The Doctor gave a deep sigh then chuckled. “Don't judge a species by the two very unusual specimens you came across.” He smiled. “Aloof is probably a good way to describe my people but there was enough touching going on, believe me. I'm sleeping with you, aren't I?”

“Why then did you need the mach... looms?”

“They say that in the Dark Times there was a curse and no children could be born anymore.” Stupid legend really, he thought. He didn't believe a word of it himself. “It also gave them the opportunity to enhance us, making loom-born children more resistant to disease and such.” Of course, he added silently, the real reason was Rassilon's dream of perfection.

Jack thought it through. “So your people dealt with infertility by creating a solution via technology. But surely they could have made those children fertile?”

The Doctor smiled wryly. “Ah yes. Like I said, curse. And everyone wanted to be like those born without a belly button after that first generation. So even if it would have been possible, everyone wanted children who could regenerate and live.” He was recounting the official history the way he had been taught at the Academy, although the truth was that there had been great resistance against the enforced looming laws.

Jack's frown deepened. The Doctor thought it was really cute.

Then he shrugged at his lover and continued in his happiest voice: “That's what we were told all our lives. It was just normal on Gallifrey. And don't mistake looms for pure technology. Time Lords have their very own spirituality and connection to something they called the Matrix. There was a mental element to every loom, rather like the Tardis. It wasn't as bad as being produced from cold machinery. But still very scientific.” He grinned. “ You know. Everyone was loom born: my parents, siblings, wife, children... You get the picture. I'm just used to the concept.”

He smiled alluringly in a way that usually made Jack too horny to think, but Jack’s brow creased as he thought it through. Apparently this was more serious than the Time Lord would have thought.

“It's really not that bad, Jack. By the 61st century humans had technology that could take genetic information and create a new person in the blink of an eye. It's disconcerting to watch, but I couldn't see those humans lacking in any way.” He thought about it for a moment. “Not really lacking anything, no.”

“Yeah, I know that but I never felt so sure around those either... But okay.” Jack said carefully. “So maybe I _am_ prejudiced. I can get over it. It still feels weird to know that you were born...” he struggled with words, “ _that_ way.”

The Doctor smiled encouragingly. “You still feel a little odd to me. But I've come to love you and the strange feeling I get when I'm near you. It feels natural now. I like it.”

Jack gave him a seductive smile. “I'm glad to hear it.” He leaned forward to steal a kiss. “Maybe it would be a good idea to show me again that you have no qualms about touching.” He slung his arms around the Doctor's naked body and pressed them close. “It would really help me get over my issue.”

“I see,” the Doctor replied breathlessly. “Who am I to stand in the way of overcoming prejudices?” He let out a soft sigh when Jack nipped at his throat.

“I knew you would see it my way”, the human whispered with a smile. “Maybe we should try and overcome our prejudices more often.”

The Doctor gave a delighted chuckle when Jack dived beneath the cover to kiss along his chest to his ribs and along his stomach... and stopped.

“Doctor...” It was a near growl. “No belly button, huh?” He drew the cover away to point at the very present navel.

“Oh, erm, well... I was always teased about it. My little defect.” He smiled as innocently as possible.

Jack stared at him from beneath the blanket. a very stern expression on his handsome face. “Was this all an elaborate story just to...”

The Doctor gave him a soft smile. “No, it wasn’t.” He sighed and pinched the back of his nose. There was no need to lie about it anymore. The Time Lords were gone, no one would persecute his family. “I only said Time Lord children were loomed. There were rumours about womb-born children. But by then society was prejudiced against those that weren't loomed.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “This is complicated.”

Jack kissed his brow. “How long did you have to keep this a secret?”

“Since I was born. My parents hadn't really planned to have me.”

Jack pulled him into a reassuring hug. “So we're both full of prejudices and both victims of prejudices. Great, so much more to overcome.” He started to stroke the Doctor's side suggestively.

The Doctor sighed and melted into the embrace. “You're an impossible thing, Jack,” he whispered.

“Yeah, but we're okay with impossible things, right?” The Doctor's laughter was muffled in a kiss.


End file.
